Makers of virtual reality technology are working to include people with hearing loss. Virtual reality includes sound as much as it does sight, so there are real-time speech captions to allow users with hearing loss to interact with others. Developers of the technology are also experimenting with sense of touch and the use of vibrations so users with hearing loss don’t miss out on the multi-sensory experience of virtual reality.

In addition, special gloves that harness the movements of sign language have been made to aid in communication with peers. Conversely, there are virtual sign language interpreters.

Hearing loss studies

Virtual reality opens up new possibilities in the research for the hearing impaired, as shown by research at The Boys Town National Research Hospital. They studied the impact of hearing loss on children in school. Children can put on headsets in a virtual reality classroom for more accurate testing in noisy environments than real classrooms or labs with monitors. There is more control with virtual reality because the children are more relaxed and that results in better testing.

The future

Signia is already reaching out and making virtual reality real. The Signia myHearing™ App allows hearing loss patients to meet up face-to-face with their hearing care professional remotely and have their hearing aids tuned from home. While the full immersion in television’s virtual world is a ways off, there are new solutions for patients’ needs as we move into the future.